Cherry 9

Born and raised in the suburbs of Baltimore, Rikki Jericho was the notable, abrasive, vocal and outgoing fiery red head of her hometown. Rikki was the party girl, with hell close on her heels. Perpetually the center of attention and almost universally liked she was also the top of her classes. Many of her teachers commented that she was the most highly motivated and driven student they had ever seen.

Anyone though who knew her was well aware of why she had an almost indomitable drive to succeed, her home life. Mom was a drug addict and more often then not Rikki was left to take care of her. Dad was absent, mom probably didn't even know who it was to begin with. From the earliest age Rikki was taking care of her Mom, and driven by the desire to get the hell away from the festering pit that was her home life.

Its pretty much exactly what she did, she graduated the Valedictorian for her class and shipped out for boot camp two days later. And she was ready, after years of track and field the rigorous physical trials of boot camp were nothing. She's never once regretted her choice to enlist in the US Air Force. Rikki again graduated with merit and honorable mention and left boot camp to join her new squad USAF RED HORSE Squadron 202.

Squadron 202 provided her with training in demolitions, combat maneuvers and the M-60 Machine Gun. It was during this time that she would also receive her callsign. A minor mathematical error on the carbon range of the kerosene in a live IED during her demolitions training that almost killed her would earn her the unique callsign she still carries with pride.

Determined to ensure she never made the same mistake twice her trainers took to calling her C9, the carbon number she'd forgotten. Her squad mates turned C9 into Cherry 9 for both her flame red hair and her newbie status. The nickname signaled her acceptance by the squad into the 202, and her beginning as just another one of the boys.

Passing her courses with honors, Cherry became an integral part of the 202. Her commanding officer who recommended her for air assault training, the required course for entry into the elite airborne section of RED HORSE. It was also a course that no woman had ever managed to pass muster on. Like everything else however she gave the rough special operations style training her all and passed. Receiving her air assault badge and commendation as the first woman in the RED HORSE airborne she would join up with the 823rd RED HORSE airborne squadron as a demolitionist.

Any and all celebrations were short lived, and after only a month the 823rd found themselves thrust into the middle of a war with the Rikti. The 6 months of the war were perhaps some of the most defining of her life. The 823rd went 5 months in the European theater without losing a single person. They're missions were some of the most successful and were often decisive victories for the forced allied against the invaders.

Cherry herself also quickly became an expert in Rikti technology, securing and rerouting portals and disarming bombs and other modifying Rikti weaponry. Her knowledge put the 823rd in demand for secure and destroy missions on Rikti portals. Many lives were saved by the 823rd, and the squad distinguished themselves continuously. It would be her knowledge and the squads distinction that brought them to a pivotal mission against the Rikti in November of 2004.

Over half of the 823rd was lost during the single mission in Paragon city. The job had been simple, secure and reroute a portal and ensure safe passage by members of a unit designated Omega Team. However as the portal destabilized, and the Rikti ambushed, the 823rd found themselves fighting to survive. Twenty of her squad mates died in a tense 5 minute period. It was a shocking hit to the squad, and had it not been for her quick and decisive action its possible that none of the 823rd would have survived.

The 823rd received the Air Force Cross, Air Force Distinguished Service medal, and a Presidential citation among many other commendations for their actions in the first Rikti War. Cherry exited the war with the field rank of Technical Sergeant, but all of the medals and the rank seemed hollow with the loss of so many soldiers that had become more like her family.

Her military record contains only a single demerit, for throwing the Air Force Cross in the face of a 3 star General and storming out of the award ceremony. It was only by the order of her Colonel, Steven "Saint Tact" Lyons, and his almost pleading with her, that she even agreed to take the medals and awards. She keeps them in a box and refuses to look at them. To her those medals represent her own failure, and the grievous loss of her comrades at arms.

Division: Spec-Ops
Rank: Captain

Stories

• Recruitment: A New Chapter
• Visiting the Boys
• The Cat Named Jarhead
• Cowboys & Horsemen
• War Journal: First Contact by Cyber Knight
• Recruitment File: Celtic Arrow by Cyber Knight

MBTI Personality Classification: ENTJ ^[1]

Determined, logical, critical, they love a challenge, especially one that will allow tangible improvement in productivity, efficiency or profitability. They are direct, finding the quickest, most direct path between what is and what should be.

They excel at implementing ideas and are often on the lookout for good ideas worthy of their attention. They are quick to organize, orchestrate, find resources, coordinate, and follow through to the end of a project. They love a problem, especially one that will make full use of their competencies, their logic and sense of order, justice and fair play.

Many find competition to be stimulating and fun. "These are the rules of the game now let us play." Fairness is sharing and respecting the same set of rules, so may the best one win. And since they readily acknowledge that there will be a winner and a loser, they would simply much rather be the winner. So they hone their strategies on the fine knife of experience and sharpen their skills to meet the next challenge head on.

They love having greater challenges bestowed on them as a result of having successfully met the last, as this attests to their competence and skills. They appear dispassionate because of their impersonal and objective approach, but close observation will reveal deep passion and enthusiasm as well as sensitivity, especially to cherished ones. However they expect others to roll up their sleeves as they do and meet the task in spite of personal hardships or discomfort.

They have little tolerance for personal whims that threaten a smooth running operation. They are direct and honest with most things that displease them and expect others to do the same. Their humanity shows in their sense of fairness and justice as well as their love of humor.

Cherry possesses the normal human strength of a 5'9" 135-pound woman, who engages in intense, often brutal physical exercise. Cherry uses a regimen of calisthenics, Katas and firing range practice daily, maintaining her combat skills and honing her abilities. She does not drink alcohol ^[2], smoke, or do any other type of drugs.

Cherry is also well versed in the conventional art of warfare and hand to hand combat. She prefers to use Krav Maga, a fighting style she learned during her training for RED HORSE airborne and air assault training. Prior to military service Cherry was already fairly adept at non-formalized fighting, as such she took very quickly to Krav Maga and its no hard-and-fast rules methodology.

Beyond her skill in Krav Maga, Cherry has shown adept skill in Muay Thai, and has received a bit of training in Ryabko's Systema, a Russian combat system. Push comes to shove she's extremely good at traditional fisticuffs, and has no qualms fighting dirty to win in a life or death situation.

She is also extremely well trained in most conventional weapons, a variety of guns, and in knife fighting, she might not be the best but she can hold her own against most easily. She is ambidextrous, and an exceptional marksman, and she possesses an attention to detail and level of intelligence beyond that of even most above average people.

Military Service

Branch: USAF

Unit: 823rd RED HORSE Airborne

Rank: Technical Sergeant

Specialization: Combat Engineer - Demolitions Specialist

Training Awards

Small Arms Expert Marksman with Bronze Service Star - Qualified expert in small-arms with an issue handgun and m-16 rifle.

Basic Military Training Honor Graduate - Graduated in top 10% of training flight.

Air Assault Badge - Successful completion of the US Army air assault training.

Air Force Good Conduct Medal - For exemplary conduct during first three years of active military service. (Rated excellent or higher in character and efficiency)

Medals & Honors

Air Force Cross - Actions in Paragon City in support of Omega Team.

Air Force Distinguished Service - Actions in Italy during the beginning of the Rikti War, resulted in saving more then 100 civilians while risking her own life.

Presidential Citation - Unit commendation for actions in Paragon City in support of Omega Team.

Rikti Campaign Medal - For service during the first Rikti War.

Combat Readiness Medal - Awarded to the 823rd for sustained combat readiness.

Outstanding Unit Award - Awarded to the 823rd for outstanding and distinguished service above and beyond other RED HORSE units.

Cherry possesses no superhuman powers or abilities.

• Jack Slayton - "Slayton is one of those old school, cold war black ops hard asses. The kinda guy they base blockbuster movies on and write best selling novels bout. He is most certainly not the guy I'd ever want to cross. I've nothin' but respect fer anyone that Saints would turn me over to so willingly. After all, he got into more'n one fight to keep with me with 823rd."

• Argent Marksman - "Like every damn army jockey I ever did an airborne jump with, more opinions then common damn sense. Doesn't mean I don't like em' he's good wit a gun, seems to know his stuff, even if he's a bit paranoid, an generally has his head on straight. He's learning though, he makes a good XO, even if his mouth occasionally gets the better of em. "

• Celtic Arrow - "If anyone on the team has the potential to be a major pain in my ass its McConnell. Slayton really seemed ta want him on board, and frankly I can see why. He's smarter then he lets on, damn good in a fight, and always seems a step ahead of the game. Least when his emotions don't get in the way. Guess you could say the game is afoot. Damn marines."

• Echo-3 - "Army grunt, and bein' honest he's on the short list of people I'd want at my back in a shitstorm. Calm and cool under fire Echo runs things with the sort of efficiency I can respect. Came across Green Berets a few times during my time with the military, mostly during the war. An my opinion hasn't changed, they're some scary sons of bitches. "

• Colonel Hero - "A verifiable god damn boy scout. They don't make em' like this anymore. After they made the Colonel they must've pitched the mold it into the sun. For a Supe he's pretty modest, actually he's extremely modest maybe too modest. No ego whatsoever but he's damn good to have in a fight. Like a god damn tank with legs. It don't matter what they toss at him he shrugs it off and keeps coming. Got nothing but respect for our very own boy scout, but he needs ta loosen' the hell up."

• Mirror Mimicry - "On the topic of scary sons of bitches let me just bring up the Agent known as Mirror Mimicry. Reliable as hell, efficient as they come, and more like a machine then a man. An' I won't even start on some of the stuff that comes outta his mouth. Makes me wonder why he's freelance and not an operative on payroll. Intel doesn't have much on em' but I'm sure Slayton's got his reasons."

• Magnum Max - "There are jus' some people who don't know when to keep their mouth shut. Max is one of em'. Don't get me wrong, he's damn good at what he does, but he doesn't have an ounce of common damn sense bout keepin' his trap shut. He's also got a problem with takin' orders, he's either gonna shape up or end up dead, or maybe even worse. "

• Agent Mackenzie - "Mack's got a decent head on her shoulders most of the time. I'm just not so sure this is the right gig for Kenzie. Takes a certain kinda person to do this day in and day out, an' you gotta be hard. Kenzie ain't hard, not saying she can't hack it, but her head don't seem to be in the right place. Girl has a hellva set of legs on her, an' I don't just mean their pretty, she could kick a man hard enough to make him a woman. But if it were a real shit storm I dunno if she could hack it an' for now that makes her a liability."

• Blaze Wing - "I'd like to put ma foot so far up the damn fairies ass he'd start spittin' out rubber. Really? That bout sums it up."

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